When Sydney couple John Yates and Sam Wright decided to get married they wanted an afternoon gathering that kicked on into the night, held in a venue that could safely host 70 guests and was child-friendly so their kids could enjoy the occasion.

The party priority was for lots of easy-to-eat food served to background music they’d chosen together.

THE PARTY PLAN
Their $10,000 budget wouldn’t cover a fancy restaurant or big venue bill, and since overseas guests would stay in their four-bedroom inner-city house with backyard studio they wanted to keep the celebrations close to home to cut down on transport.

John surprised Sam with a hired 1968 Mustang GT to make the trip to a park overlooking the harbour for the ceremony. Afterwards guests made the 15-minute walk back to the house for the stand-up reception on the deck and in the back garden.

A bar with a professional barman was set up in a corner of the deck next to the laundry and caterers operated from the kitchen with waiters circulating finger food.

MEETING THE BUDGET
All up the couple spent about $5000 on repairs and fixes, $3500 for catering and the bar and $1500 for flowers and decorations.

About six weeks before the party they started making repairs and revamps to the outdoor area, resurfacing the deck, tidying the yard and painting the outside toilet.

A tradie installed a balustrade for safety, added a timber step between the two deck platforms, extended the roof over the outdoor area and built a hideaway for the wheelie bins.

COMFORTABLE, NOT CROWDED
Count out the floorspace to make sure you don’t invite so many guests they feel packed in.

Richard Breatnach, general manager of event management company James Gordon Workshop (www.jamesgordonworkshop.com.au), suggests allowing 1.2 square metres a person for a sit-down dinner that includes space for a dance floor and 0.75 square metres a person for a stand-up event, allowing for props and decorations.

Always provide at least some seating, with cushions and rugs for comfort after the sun goes down. As for food, ‘When it comes to catering you can do anything from a gourmet sausage sizzle and drinks for about $20 a person,’ says Richard.

If there is an outside bathroom make sure it’s private by covering a glass door or window with fabric.

BILLOWING ROMANCE
Draped muslin or organza adds romance. Position it over the pergola or garden arch or create a billowing effect from the ceiling.
TIP Buy inexpensive, readymade organza tab-top curtains in cream or bright colours, securing the tabs to the frame with nails, or hem lengths of muslin, about $5 a metre, and secure with thumbtacks.

BLOOMING BEAUTIFUL
Cut garden flowers early in the morning or last thing at night.

‘To make blooms last longer add a drop of bleach to the water to inhibit bacteria and a scant teaspoon of sugar to feed the plant,’ says florist and ceramicist Samantha Robinson (www.samantharobinson.com.au). ‘Change the water every two days.’

Also use hanging plants and pots filled with flowers to hide the fence. PUTTING UP A BALUSTRADE
For guests’ safety a handrail with slats was installed by cutting 90 x 90mm holes in the decking to expose the 45mm wide joists.

At the base of the balustrade posts a 200mm long, 45mm wide halving joint was cut to fit over the joists, with 70 x 35mm slots 100mm up from the deck for the base rail.

Along the centre of the base rail a router cut a 20mm wide, 10mm deep groove for the slats then the rail was positioned in the post slots and secured with 100mm treated pine screws. The posts were dropped in the deck holes and secured with galvanised bolts.

The handrail was secured with 100mm treated pine screws, slats slotted into the base and secured with galvanised nails.

HIDING THE BINS
The wheelie bins were hidden by a frame built using 70 x 35mm treated pine, with doors and a lift-up lid that are secured to the framework with galvanised T-hinges. A 10mm gap was left between the doors that bolt-fasten at the top and base.

The framework was positioned and levelled then covered with bamboo screening carefully cut to length with a mitresaw.

The screening was secured to the frame with 14mm staples across the wire strands and the excess trimmed with aviation snips.